Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-07-16

you! Mnen you get OUT OF It, mind you write
to The Times, in London, you know. There,
don't cry. am sure I should not cry il /
were going to get out of this places" for at
this point jess took the opportunity Of Mrs.
Neville's fervent embrace to burst out into A
sob or two.
In another minute they were in the cart,
and Mouti was scrambling up behind.
Don't cry, old girl" said John, laying his
hand upon her shoulder. "What can't be
cured must be endured"
ayes, John" she answered, and dried her
tears.
At the headquarter camp John went in and
explained the circumstance Of his departure.
At first the officer who was temporarily In
c~omnlapd-the commandant having been
wounded at the same time that John was
rather dcniurred to his going, especially when
he learned that he had passed his word not to
carry dispatches. Presently, however, he
thought better of it, and said he supposed that
it was all right, as he could not see that their
going could do the garrison any harm;
'rathec the reverse, in fact, because you can
tel the people how we are getting on in this
God forsaken hole. Ionly wish that M
body would give me a pass, that's ALL where.
upon John shook hands with him and left,
to find al eager crowd gathered outside.
The news of their going had got abroad,
and everybody was running down to hear the
truth of it. Such All event as IL departure
out of Pretoria had not happened for n couple
of months md more, and the excitement was
proportionate to its novelty.
81 say, Mel, is it truo you arc goingr'
hallooed out q burly farmer.
"How the deuce did YOU get a passs" put in
another man with II face like II weasel. He
1 WINS what. iS known 80 a kSrnn .snrC,,1.nnN
literally a "Doer chcater'), that is, a travel
ing trader whose cuisines it is to beguilc tho
simple minded Dutchman by selling him
worthless goods at five times their cost. ~
have loads Of friends among the Beers.
There is hardly Il Boer in tho Transvaal who
does not know me"-C"To his COST" put in a
bystander, with Il grunt-"and yet l have
tried all | know"-~And you know a good
deal" said the same rude man)-"and I can't
get a pass"
"You don't suppose those poor Beers arc
going to let you out when once they have got
You in!' went on tho tormentor. "Why,
man, it's against human nature. You've got
all their wool; now do you think they want
youto have their skin tooF'
Whereupon the weasel faced individual
gave a howl Of wrath, and pretended to make
a rush at the author Of these random gibes,
waiting half way for somebody to stop him
and prevent u breach of the peace.
"Oh, Miss Croft!' cried out Il woman in
the crowd, who, like jess, had been trapped i'll
Pretoria while on q flying visit, "if you can
get a line down to my husband at Maritz-
burg, to tell him that | am well, except for
the rheumatism, from sleeping OH tho wet
ground; and tell him to kiss tho twins for
me-"
81 a Mai fall kl,~,, Do.... AI-A ~
give them II ID good hiding vet, when
Collcy relieves u.s." sung out n Jolly Young
Englishman i'll tho uniform of the Pretoria
carbineers. He little knew that poor Colley
kind hearted English gentleman that he
was-was sleeping peacefully under six
feet of ground with a Bocr bullet through his
brain.
Now, Capt. Mel. it you arc ready, wo
must trek" said ono Of tho Beers, in Dutch,
suiting the action to tho word by catching
tho near wheeler II sharp cut with his riding
sjambock that made him jump nearly out
Of the traces.
Away started the horses with a plunge,
scattering tho crowd to tho right and left,
and amid a volley Of farcwells they were Off
upon their homeward journey.
For more than an hour nothing particular
happened. John drove OH ut Il fair pace, and
tho two Beers cantered along behind. Atthe
end of this time, however, just us they were
approaching tho Red House, where Frank
Muller had obtained the pass from the general
on the previous day, ono Of tho Beers rode up
and told them, roughly enough, that they
were to outspan ut tho house, where thew
would get some food. AS it was past 1 o'clock
they were by no means sorry to hear this, and
accordingly John drew up tho cart about
nifty yards from tho place and they proceeded
to get the horses out, and, having watched
them roll and drink, proceeded to the house.
The two Beers, who had also oH-saddled,
were already sitting on tho veranda, and
when jess looked inquiringly toward them,
ono of them pointed with his pipo. toward
tho little room. Taking the hint they entered,
and found a Hottentot woman Just setting
some food upon tho table.
"Here is dinner; let US cat it," said John:
goodness knows when we shall got any
more" and, accordingly, he sat down.
AS he did so the two Beers came in, and
one OF them made some sneering remark that
made tho other look ut them and laugh In
sultingly.
John flushed up. but took no notice. In
deed, no thought it safest not, for to tell the
truth, he did not much like the appearance of
these two worthless. One Of them was a big,
o"'SooAS IAoIJ AuCCA Au0u, WILL u PECULIARLY
v%illainous expression Of countenance and q
prominent tooth that projected in ghnstly
isolation over his lower lip. The other was q
small man, with a sardonic smile and O pro-
fusion Of black beard and whiskers on his
face, and long hair hanging on his shoulders.
Indeed, when he smiled moro vigorously than
usual, his eyebrows came down and his
whiskels advanced, and his mustache went
up till there was scarcely any face left, and
he looked more like q great bearded monkey
than q man. This man was q Boer of tho
widest typo from the far borders Of Zout-
pansberg, and did not understand a word of
English. jess ~nicknamed him the Wider
beeste, from his likeness to that ferocious
looking and hairy animal. The other man,
on the contrary, understood English perfectly,
for he had passed many years Of his life In
Natal, having left that colony Oh account of
some little indiscretion about thrashing KAT
frs that had brought him into collision with
the penal laws. Him jess named the Uni
corn, on account Of his one cleaning tusk.
The Unicorn was an unusually pious man,
and on arriving at the table he. to Johns as
constituent, gently but firmly grasped the
knife with which no was about to cut tho
meat.
"What's the matter!' said John.
The Boer shook his head sadly. "No won
der you English are an accursed race, and
have been given over into our hands as the
great king Agag was given into the hands of
the Israelites, so that we have hewed YOU to
pieces. You sit down to meat and give no
thanks to the dear Lord" and he threw back
his head and sung out a portentously long
Dutch grace through his nose. Not content
with that, he set to work to translate it into
English, which took q good time: nor was the